Has One Cebu lost another ally?
The Alayon party of Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Cebu’s 1st district has decided to join forces with the Liberal Party (LP) of President Aquino.
“The Alayon party will coalese with LP,” Gullas told reporters in Naga City yesterday.
But he kept others guessing about who Alayon will favor in the 2013 local election and whether the collaboration would only be for selected positions.
“I didn’t say that I would support Davide,” said Gullas, referring to LP’s candidate for Cebu governor Hilario “Junjun” Davide III.
Gullas said he still has to discuss with Alayon members whether to take their oath with LP before the filing of the certificates of candidacy (COC) next week.
Gullas earlier declared support for Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia in her bid for a Senate seat, saying he would support any Cebu candidate who runs for a national position.
Now that Garcia has dropped out of the Senate race and declared her plan to run for Congress in Cebu’s 3rd district, Gullas’ support remains open to speculation.
Gullas was instrumental in earlier persuading Sen. Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) to coalese with the Liberals.
When Villar sought his advice about which party to join – LP or the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), “I told him (Villar) that LP is the bigger party,” said Gullas.
Gullas is running for Talisay mayor next year, since his three terms in Congress bar him from reelection.
Alayon candidates for mayors include Nicepura Apura of Carcar City, Valdemar Chiong of Naga City, Elanito Peña of Minglanilla, Lakambini Reluya of San Fernando, and Lionel Bacaltos of Sibonga.
Last July, One Cebu lost the Durano clan’s Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud) party which linked up with LP.